according to that line of thinking a politician doing ANYTHING of the will of the people is buying votes. you forget they work for the PEOPLE, if they do what the PEOPLE WANT then they will get votes, THAT IS THEIR JOB, THAT IS THE ENTIRE POINT IN A DEMOCRACY and how it WILL work.

if you don't like politicians doing what the people want may I suggest moving to a non-democratic country.

It only becomes a problem once people are voting themselves money or "benefits" that others have to pay for.

How do you see it as sustainable? Especially once the ones paying the bill becomes less than half of the voters? and the beneficiaries become more than half? How can that be maintained without basically stealing more and more money from the minority?

The only fix would be if politicians couldn't pick and chose the recipients. All should bear SOME of the cost. Then everyone would have "skin in the game".... Do you see how it would help?

It only becomes a problem once people are voting themselves money or "benefits" that others have to pay for.

How do you see it as sustainable? Especially once the ones paying the bill becomes less than half of the voters? and the beneficiaries become more than half? How can that be maintained without basically stealing more and more money from the minority?

The only fix would be if politicians couldn't pick and chose the recipients. All should bear SOME of the cost. Then everyone would have "skin in the game".... Do you see how it would help?

Never drank the so called kool-aid. Not a Republican. Don't trust entrenched politicians. I also was not talking just about Social Security. I am talking about ALL dispersments that go to some and not to others. Those are votes being bought. Also, preferential policies toward one industry or another are politicians being bought. It is on both sides. When the politicians have power to choose who gets what, who pays what, and who has to provide what, that breeds the corruption and wasted money that we see today. Again, from both sides.

The television program "60 Minutes" had a rather interesting segment on tax breaks for big businesses last night. It appears most are leaving the USA because of the low or no taxes offered by other countries. The glitch is any money earned outside the USA must stay outside the USA or they get penalized at a tax rate of 35%. Because of this, they keep the money offshore, and American jobs are lost permanently.

World's richest man loses more than $6.5 billion of net worth within a week

aww..................

While ordinary folks like you and I are busy fussing over what bank will offer us the cheapest home loan, Mukesh Ambani, the world?s fifth richest man with a net worth of $46 billion is all set to build a 22-storey home for his family of four. The gizmo-filled posh pad, named ?Antilla? is going to be the world?s most expensive home costing US $2 billion. The building will stand 550-ft tall above the ground and will have 400,000 sq. ft. of interior space when it?s completed in January 2009. So, what exactly has the head of Mumbai-based petrochemical giant Reliance Industries dished out on? Well, for starters, the home has six storey of parking space alone after which the living quarters with nine elevators and a host of storage rooms and lounges begin.
Then there?s a huge ballroom, dual staircases with silver-covered railing, indoor/outdoor bar, green rooms, powder rooms, and even an ?entourage? room for security guards and assistants to relax in. apparently Mrs. Ambani was quite keen on maintaining ingenuity in the whole scheme of things, so she made sure that no two floors looked alike.
What?s even more astonishing is that the stately home staunchly follows the principles of Vaastu, an Indian version of Feng Shui throughout the building with strategically placed furniture and accessories. Then there?s the health level with a swimming pool, a yoga studio and even an ice spa where residents can enjoy flurries of man-made snow! The details about he family?s bedrooms a re little hard to come by as yet but we do know that the whole home is decked up with tasteful indoor and outdoor garden and Indian artifacts and decoration.
The topmost levels will exclusively be used to entertain business guests. So how many people will it take to maintain such a loft? An unofficial figure listed the number of employees for the home at 600, but at the rate this palatial home is getting blinged out, we wont be entirely surprised if the number increased by a couple of hundreds more!

Le Billionaire: World?s most exclusive, expensive Vodka costs $3.7 millionMost Expensive Vodka by Leon Verres
Most Expensive Vodka by Leon Verres, called Billionaire Vodka.
Leon Verres has been known for producing luxury goods, including some of the world?s most exclusive and expensive alcoholic beverages. They earlier created the Le? Billionaire Champagne, which was the world?s most exclusive and expensive version of the beverage, which came dressed in its own designer pouch. The next product in the elite category is the Le Billionaire Vodka, which is going to take the crown for being the most expensive and exclusive beverage of its kind in the world. Similar to the Champagne, this bottle too shall have handcrafted diamond and gold detailing, and come dressed in its tailored designer cover.
The bottle in question will come in two primary versions: the purple hue and the white one. On both sides, the bottle will have 3000 precious diamonds which mainly make it so precious and rather blingy. The fact that most of them have been individually handcrafted especially adds to the exclusivity factor, which also is the case for the Swarovski crystals on the gold labeling - especially the dot on the ?I? of billionaire and the ?B? itself

I really don't give a rip as long as they aren't buying that stuff with my tax dollars...

We all pay for Tarp and the sins of the mortgage swindlers. We all pay when BIG OIL gets tax cuts and we get a recession in return. They broke this economy so why not let them shoulder some of the recovery burdens?

We all pay for Tarp and the sins of the mortgage swindlers. We all pay when BIG OIL gets tax cuts and we get a recession in return. They broke this economy so why not let them shoulder some of the recovery burdens?

I have always been against the Tarp garbage. I know some of those guys got ridiculous bonus' after their failures. No arguments from me there. I think that the bonus' were in their contracts (as sick as that is...). As far as "big oil" tax cuts... I think that if they were removed, gas prices would likely go up. Good or bad, I think that would be the likely outcome. My concerns are more with money wasted that should never be spent by the federal government. Also, the fact that the government gets to chose the winners and losers is the root of the problem. They choose who gets tax increases, who gets subsidies, who gets breaks, who gets money for this and that..... Opens the door to the kinds of messes we are in now.

As far as "big oil" tax cuts... I think that if they were removed, gas prices would likely go up. Good or bad, I think that would be the likely outcome.

In the quarter just prior to the Bush tax cuts Exxon Netted (after taxes) $4.5 BILLION DOLLARS. That's 18 BILLION a year without the tax gift from Bush. If gas goes up with that sort of profit blame GREED, not supplies or taxes.
Oil should never be allowed to exist in a speculative market. The Saudis told us all along there were no shortages and that the pricing was due to speculation in that market.